I missed you this August and your clam bakes, hot dogs, cotton candy and soft serve ice cream, your old fashioned merry go rounds that never tire, and the one thing that settles my soul when nothing else can, a canoe ride on one of your hundreds of lakes that make their way through the Adirondack and Catskill mountains, those rolling blue and green hues and haze on the horizon reminding me what pure perfection really is.

Your towns with their eerie mysteries from Sleepy Hollow’s cemeteries and ghosted past to the former glove making towns along the Mohawk River, a smoke stack remains as a remnant of the region’s historical background but stunted past.

The Hudson River and your capital city’s mystic skies after a rain shower. Those weekend escapes to the Jersey Shore, Coney Island, Saratoga Race Track and Lake Placid, where as its name suggests is the epitome of serenity.

Hats off to Long Island pizza, Montauk, and delicious Finger Lake Rieslings after a kayak ride on one of your many bodies of precious water. To late night board games in Cold Spring Harbor and fun youthful treks to Fire Island and Massapequa.

To my deepest heartstrings Gloversville, Johnstown & Schenectady and your closed down factories, Caroga Lake, your barbecues, evening swims and picnic lunches, and best of all, your early morning fog and blueberry farms. To the Great Sacandaga’s fishermen on an oh so early morn…ice fishing in the winter and off in the distance in a row boat as soon as it melts.

To a sweet bitter memory of the Minnie Ha-Ha paddlewheeling its way around Lake George and the “still” I have of it when I first did it now over 40 years ago.

Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes

Hats off to the Mohawk River I’ve swept through so many times in this life time and many others, the blissful walks in Seneca Falls, ice skating in Oswego, football games in Watertown and the Fonda County Fair where I took home countless blue and purple ribbons from the dozens of tapestries, pies, breads, cookies, dresses, quilts, plant holders and paintings I made.

Farm outside Rhinebeck New York

There’s alluring Monticello, Cooperstown‘s Hall of Fame, Corning’s famous glass, trout in Tupper Lake, the familiar words of Richard Russo, heartwarming potters and artisans, mom and pop antique shops, small town diners, Niagara Falls just because, soup in Plattsburgh and giving a nod to Malone before you hit the Canadian border.

The Great Sacandaga

1953 Chevy on Clinton Street in Schenectady

The Red Barn in Northville New York

View from a hike taken in Canada Lake

Melody Lodge in Speculator New York

An old leathermill, now vacant and retired in Gloversville New York

Old barn in upstate New York

New York Lunch diner in Gloversville New York

Caroga Lake in the Winter buried in snow

Mirror Lake at Dawn

Lake Placid New York taken while on a paddleboard

Lake Placid New York

Mirror Lake at Dusk

The Adirondacks in the heart of summer

The Catskills

In the heart of the Finger Lakes

How I remember those cold breezes and winter ice storms, shoveling snow off rooves with the “boys” while hot apple cider and pie were waiting inside. Playing pool at dive bars, whiskey shots, house bands with poor sound systems, checked flannel shirts and deer along winding rural roads …. knowing that all this too is my heritage.

Hearth and late night campfire stories kept the child alive in me. Native American spirits reminded so often me of their presence during walks in the woods, in my dreams and through their whispering voices in the wind. Don’t forget your innocent beauty they’d sometimes say. Stay grounded they’d always say and still do.

My tastebuds too remember. Chili and homemade rice pudding at New York Lunch, Thanksgiving weekends at the Turkey Farm, kabasa, sauerkraut, homemade jams and jellies, local honey, and milkshakes at the penny and dime store. Blackberry bushes, homemade rhubarb pie, those black and white iced cookies of yesteryear, Italian bakeries with their cannolis & Jewish Delicatessens with their bagels, lox and cream cheese.

Beacon New York

To the state that taught me it all. You made me a tennis player, a canoe teacher, a piano player, a square dance champion, a seamstress, a baker, a writer, a painter, a stamp collector, a waterskier, an entertainer, a traveler, a woodsman, a sailor, a swimmer, a lover, a reader, an archer, a marshmallow roaster, a snow skier, a hiker, a passionate but poor singer, an artist, a craftsman, a linguist and someone who honors dignity, loyalty, kindness and all that is real, authentic and true.

You taught me about contribution, the elderly and why caring for them matters, and how community is the breadth and depth of our heart center and what keeps us united. You taught me about serenity, trees, mountain peaks and the richness of garden soil. You taught me about the wonderment of being connected to a lake’s pulse at dawn and dusk, my best meditation in this lifetime.

Treasured magic are the best words to describe being in the middle of a quiet Adirondack lake with just a soft motor purring at dawn or better yet, none at all. What lies between you and land is nothing but a fish who jumps up to the surface for a mere few seconds and a loon with her beckoning calls, so hypnotic you fall asleep and forget about the world for awhile.

The Adirondacks

This is not a dream but my childhood reality, a reality that showed me how to appreciate and love nature, that honoring the soil and water beneath our feet matters so much more than we’ll ever truly comprehend and why gratitude must be the order of the day, every day.

Until this lifetime fades away into nothing but an imprint on my soul, you will always have me at hello upstate New York. Don’t forget that I am one of your fans, one of your spirits and most importantly, one of your children.

I, like those Native American echoes in the night, will teach the world about your magic, thanks to the dreams and visions of your beauty that never leave my memory.

Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.

She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.

Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.

Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.

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